Introduction Fuel poverty is measured by a household spending more than 10% of its income on energy. Four legs of fuel poverty: low income, energy inefficient housing, high energy prices, behavioural change.

Ireland and Fuel Poverty Up to 28% of households (460k) in Ireland could be in fuel poverty. Ireland’s population: 4.68 million Number of households: 1.68 million 62% of people own their own homes. Rental properties has high incidence of fuel poor. Gender with males in urban migration women become a higher proportion of rural population. People living in the rented accommodations are twice as likely to live in a home that is E, F, or G rated on the BER scale. A is energy efficient

Ireland’s fuel poverty evolution Energy poverty, along with deprivation in general has always been part of Ireland’s poverty history. In 2016:- Dept. of Social welfare funds Fuel Allowance €230m p.a. and Fuel Benefit electricity, gas, oil €220m p.a. Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) has spent €2 billion to support the incomes of people who find themselves in energy poverty. Introduction of Deeper Retrofit. Dept. of Climate Action and Environment and Dept. of Health are involved in delivery of a Deeper Retrofit programme (€20m) for suffering from pulmonary diseases Legal obligations have recently been placed on energy suppliers to ensure that they assist customers on energy poverty.

Causes of energy poverty - solutions Cause of fuel poverty Income increase / Income support schemes Low household income Fuel prices regulation / Fuel subsidies High cost of energy Deep energy retrofits in dwellings Low energy efficiency of the property Behaviour

Recommendations Dedicated national programs addressing the fuel poverty problem. Top priority at national levels, shifting price control mechanisms and fuel subsidies to more active and effective public expenditure on renovation measures. A higher allocation of EU Funds to renovation programs targeting fuel poor, low- income and vulnerable categories of people. Need for a long-term strategy for fuel poverty alleviation in the EU. Improvement of statistical data collection by providing more evidence on the scale and impact of fuel poverty in the EU. National database of energy efficiency of houses including health indicators. More Primary Research on Fuel Poverty. Attain CO2 emissions targets. National Energy Advise Programme

Positive Lessons from Ireland Introduction of A Strategy to Combat Energy Poverty 2016- 2019 (Dept. of Communications, Energy & Natural Resources A uniform Building Energy Rating System (1/3 of Irish housing stock has a BER) The use of Mapping for Retrofit Planning and Fuel Poverty Analysis